The Barometer Online

Issue date: 10/2/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Curtis Barnard Senior Ryan Callahan has logged 810 minutes on the pitch for the Oregon State men's soccer team. Callahan has scored one goal and two assists early in the 2008 season.

Last Thursday, Oregon State fans witnessed the third edition of Giant Killers, courtesy of the Beaver football team. This weekend, a similar situation is in place for Oregon State Men's soccer as the kickoff conference play against Pac-10 giants Cal on Friday night, and then Stanford on Sunday afternoon.

Cal is currently ranked No. 10 in the nation, and the seniors that headline the Oregon State roster are still looking for their first win against the Golden Bears in their Beaver careers.

"Cal's been the best Pac-10 team the last two seasons," senior midfielder Tracy Hasson said. "We've never beaten Cal so we have a little personal vendetta on them."

Despite the record against the Pac-10 powerhouse the experienced Beavers are confident that this year's team has what it takes to take down the Golden Bears.

"We just need to play our game," senior forward and the Beavers leading scorer Robby Christner said.

"This worst thing we can do is try and steer away from what we do best and try to adjust to them," Hasson said. "We need to try and make them adjust to us."

Forcing Cal out of their comfort zone is indeed a very vital part to this weekend, as this is a crucial game for turning the season around for the Beavers and getting them to where they want to be.

"Non-conference didn't go as planned, I think we were too up and down with how we played," senior forward Josh Cameron said. "But the last couple games I think we definitely took a step in the right direction."

For the last two games, the Beavers were on the road in Spokane and Los Angeles. But, despite the long travel, they were able to come away with a blowout victory over University of Missouri Kansas City 5-1, and a 1-1 tie against a very good Loyola Marymount team. However, the road only gets tougher for the Beavers as it's all Pac-10 for the rest of the season.

One thing the Beavers have got going for them now against the heavily favored Golden Bears is playing in Corvallis for the first time in nearly a month. The last five straight games for OSU have been on the road in four separate cities.

Continued...

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